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(Taken From My Official Newsletter, Issue 24,
January 2004)
Have you ever noticed how jury selection
is pitched to the proletariat the same way timeshares are
sold? "Hey Bob,
you've just won the county lottery and you may have won the
chance to be on a jury. To claim your prize, just pop along
to the county court house."
Julie was lucky enough to get her jury duty notification letter
the other month. She's always been pretty lucky with these
things. She gets her call up papers once a year. Me, on the
other hand, I don't have to worry. As a non-citizen, I can't
serve on a jury. I think this should extend to not appearing
in court as a defendant either, but I could be on my own with
that one.
Well, just like with the timeshare pitch, Julie's response
to the notification was one of annoyance and irritation, which
seems to be pretty much the common reaction with everyone.
I can't say I'm any different. I can think of many other painful
ways to spend my time than serving on a jury. Not only that,
there's a lot of pressure on you as a juror. You have to pay
attention for a start. The hardest thing is that you have to
decide the fate of another person. That's some scary responsibility
and power.
Considering all that lawyers have
to learn, are we (the general public) the best people to
preside over a court case? What do we know and understand
of the law? And saying you watch Law & Order on a regular
basis isn't good enough. In what other venue do we allow
unskilled personnel to take control of such a serious undertaking?
I don't see nurses yanking people off the street to do brain
surgery or airlines picking a passenger at random to fly
a 747, so why have the decision of guilt or innocence placed
in the hands of laypeople?
Combine that with the fact that most people consider jury
duty to be such a hardship, I don't fancy anyone's chances
of a fair and well-reasoned trial. Any of us could end up in
court fighting for our livelihood and the last thing any of
us want is twelve pissed off people who couldn't come up with
a decent enough excuse to get out of jury duty. It's not exactly
the justice system our forefathers imagined. Remember, the
judge won't save us. All he's going to do is slap a number
on the proceedings. To me, a jury is a bigger deterrent not
to commit crime than the various crime prevention programs
the police currently have.
This is my script for a TV commercial to be broadcast nationally
to scare us straight. Here it is:
"Trial by jury is a right
of everyone in this country. You'll be tried by your peers--objective
people who have nothing to gain or lose from your case.
Meet your jurors:"
"Juror #1 was meant to be
in Maui this week."
"Juror #2 didn't get beyond
5th grade and needs help tying his laces."
"Juror #3 thinks J-walking
should be a capital offense."
"Juror #4 will go with the
flow and agree with the majority."
"Juror #5's car was stolen
last month and no one was caught. This is payback."
"Juror #6 knows you did it
just by looking at you."
"Juror #7 will base your guilt
on a coin flip. Heads or tails?"
"Juror #8 thinks evidence
is overrated. It's all about gut feel."
"Juror #9 has fifteen cats
and doesn't think you look like a cat person."
"Juror #10 hopes to hook up
with Juror #9."
"Juror #11 hasn't been listening."
"Juror #12 and foreman is
the actual perpetrator of the crime you stand accused of
and isn't in the mood to confess."
"Now, you've met your jury.
How confident are you they'll do the right thing?"
If this ad went out, crime would cease in a week
I know the court system is a symbol of our democracy, but
can't we palm the responsibility onto someone who likes this
sort of stuff? Justice, she may be blind, but the rest of us,
we're just blinkered.
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